Former Khmer Rouge Rath Preap has built a hunting lodge on an isolated island in the South China Sea.  It is a vacation spot for the rich, primarily for the rich and criminal.  It is also an Earthly vacation spot for the Predator.  Luckily, Rath doesn’t own the island, he just rents it.

On this particular hunting trip, Rath’s high paying guests are a mixed lot.  There is John Gustat, a supposed billionaire, but more likely CIA; Horia Ursa, a former Romanian wrestler turned mobster; Nikolai and his lady love, Marikova, former KGB, now new Russian agents; Maxim Barnes, spoiled rock star escaping the tabloids after being caught with the babysitter; there is also an arms dealer and various other “personalities”.  It doesn’t matter, it’s all about the body count, anyway, am I right?  It’s a Predator novel for crying out loud.

And there is plenty of Predator on the prowl, and plenty of interchangeable characters (mostly nameless guards) getting pulverized, mutilated, and vaporized.  Author Jeff Vandermeer, though, does give us just enough background on some of the principle characters to make us care, even if we only care just a little.  The guests themselves have plenty of secrets without the Predator hunting them:  Gustat has a history with the alien hunter, and is on the island for revenge; the Russian spy couple are their to gain intel on Gustat and his knowledge of the Predator.  Throw in a pirate whose sister was killed by the Predator and is leading a raid on the island, and you got a jolly, blood soaked, good time.


South China Sea is crammed full with characters, and I was wishing for several of them to be thinned out by the halfway point.  Actually, I was thinking somewhat  before the half mark that the book should have been over by now.  It wasn’t boring, I just thought it should have wrapped up sooner.  But as action packed as the last third of the book is, it flew to the end and kept me hooked.

Jeff Vandermeer delivered a book I didn’t expect to be as good as it was, and it had more character depth and development than I had anticipated.  It even got a little weird with one of the charcaters towards the end, and it was a turn I definitely didn’t see coming at all.  Fans of the Predator should definitely read this one.

4 out of 5
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